Commentary: Plenty of stories — but Sergio offers big drama

After his 6-under 66 on Thursday, Sergio Garcia still admitted that Augusta National is a special challenge for him.

KEN WILLISSPORTS COLUMNIST

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The Masters has identified and solidified a lot of stars over the past 79 years. And yes, sometimes those stars only shine for a day, maybe two.

By Sunday, we may forget that opening-round heroics were turned in by a 14-year-old kid, Tianlang Guan of China, who fully held his own with a 1-over 73 that left him, through 18 holes, as low amateur.

On the other side of the International Date Line was the popular 53-year-old American — Fred Couples — whose 68 not only provided further Augusta thrills for his legion of fans, but left him as low Freddie (Jacobson shot 72).

The focus was spread well beyond those two Thursday at Augusta National, where the normal competitive rinse cycle was expected to be joined by an overnight deluge that should make things a bit soggy for Friday's second round.

In big-picture terms, you always start with Tiger Woods, who regained his prohibitive-favorite status this year and, while he did nothing to make the others fret, he didn't hurt himself either with a 2-under 70. His scorecard produced three birdies, one bogey and one huge potential omen — in three of Tiger's four Masters victories, he opened with 70.

But as we do in any golf tournament, big or small, we look at the north end of the scoreboard. In two different ways, the pair who share the lead bring their own levels of interest to this unfolding story — it begins with their native lands, whose Masters histories couldn't be more opposite.

Who saw Marc Leishman's 66 coming? Those who handicap golf the way others handicap the ponies like to look at individual track records for hints. Leishman has missed his last two 36-hole cuts on the PGA Tour and has just one top-10 in nine starts this season. He's played just one previous Masters — three years ago — and missed the cut.

“I was like a deer in the headlights, I guess,” Leishman said of his 2010 Masters debut. “Found myself looking around a little too much and not concentrating on getting the ball in the hole . . .”

If you put stock in pedigree, keep in mind that Leishman is Australian, and you probably own as many green jackets — maybe more — than the entire (and very large) nation of Australia, whose golfing public still crawls from bed in ungodly hours in hopes of finally watching a countryman win a green jacket for the Down Under and downtrodden.

Spain, however . . . ah, Spain. Spain brought us Seve Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal, whose legends stretched elsewhere but were very much linked to Augusta National and the Masters. Spain also delivered Sergio Garcia, whose teenage promise hinted strongly at another Seve or Ollie — perhaps even more.

But the “Sergio era” has been one of two large hurdles. There's the one all other contemporaries have crashed into — Tiger Woods. But Sergio's other brick wall has been, well, Sergio Garcia. A year ago, after another Masters disappointment, he suggested — publicly, mind you — that he just doesn't have it in him to win here.

After his 66 on Thursday, Sergio still admitted that Augusta National is a special challenge for him.

“It's obviously not my most-favorite place but, you know, we try to enjoy it as much as we can each time we come here,” he said.

Then came this: “. . . Today was one of those good days. And you know, let's enjoy it while it lasts.”

Big-league golf in general, and the Masters in particular, spotlights human emotion and drama like nothing else in sports. When it's time to eat or be eaten, the men are surrounded by thousands in person, millions through TV and they're more alone than they ever imagined.

If you've paid any attention whatsoever to the career arc of Sergio Garcia, and all of the wild emotional swings that have highlighted it, you'll hope that this year's opening round, unlike so many others, points at things to come as the weekend unfolds.

Good and great stories abound right now, but as the holes pile up and the would-be contenders fall from the elevating altitude, it'll be a far more interesting Masters if Sergio stays on the rails and rides it to whatever destination awaits him this time.

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